Deuteronomy 30:4-6

“Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live!”

In interpreting the Holy Scriptures, it is common with many to dwell almost exclusively upon the literal or historical sense of them, and to confine their meaning to the people to whom the verses were immediately addressed, or of whom they spoke. But this limits the use of the sacred volume in such a manner, as to render it of little service to us. By supposing that it related only to other people and other times, we void its authority over us, destroy its power over our conscience, and learn to set aside every doctrine which we are not willing to receive, and every precept which we do not choose to practice.

But there is an opposite error, against which also we ought to be on our guard. Some are so intent on the spiritual sense of Scripture, as almost entirely to overlook the literal. But the primary meaning is often as replete with instruction as any that can be affixed to the words, and incomparably more satisfactory to a well-informed mind.

For instance, if we should take occasion from our text to speak of the nature and effects of true conversion, in bringing us to God and renovating our souls—we might speak what was good and useful; but the primary sense of the passage leads us to another subject, which ought to be of equal importance in our eyes, namely: The Restoration and Conversion of the Jews.

In discoursing then on the words before us, we shall notice,

I. The events to which these words relate:

That which first demands our attention is the restoration of the Jews.

Very much is spoken, in the prophets on this subject; and though a great part of their declarations respecting it may be considered as having received their accomplishment in the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, there are some which evidently refer to a period yet future. The Prophet Ezekiel associates it with their acknowledgment of one Prince, whom he calls David, Ezekiel 37:21-25. But there was not any prince after the captivity to whom that name can with any propriety be applied in such a view; whereas the Lord Jesus Christ is often spoken of under that name; and therefore it is reasonable to conclude that the restoration spoken of must take place after the establishment of Christianity in the world.

Indeed so strong are the declarations of Scripture upon this subject, that an expectation of the event universally obtains throughout the Christian world. What the precise time will be, we cannot absolutely fix; but we believe that they will be gathered from all quarters of the earth, and possess again their own land, agreeably to the literal expressions of our text; and it is highly probable that the time is not far distant.

As for the objections arising from the difficulty of carrying such a measure into execution, or from the barrenness of the land of Canaan, they vanish the very moment we open the Scriptures, and see what God did for them in former times. If God has ordained it, every mountain will become a plain.

Nearly connected with this is the conversion of the Jews to Christianity.

If we suppose a doubt to arise respecting the former, there exists not even a shadow of a doubt respecting this. The Apostle Paul represents it as assuredly determined in the divine counsels, and infallibly to be accomplished in due season. The people of God in every age may be regarded as one tree, of which Abraham may be considered as the root. The Jews after a time were broken off, as fruitless branches; and the Gentiles were grafted on their stock; and, when the appointed season shall arrive, God will again engraft the Jews upon their own stock, and make both Jews and Gentiles one tree that shall fill the whole earth. It is by this latter measure that God’s designs of love and mercy to the Gentiles also shall be perfected; for the conversion of the Jews will awaken the attention of the unconverted Gentiles, and be the means of bringing in the fullness of the Gentiles, Romans 11:12; Romans 11:15; Romans 11:23-29.

The change that will be wrought upon them will not be merely outward, or consisting in speculative opinions; it will reach to their inmost souls; it will produce in them a circumcision of the heart, an utter abhorrence of all sin, and a fervent love to God, as their reconciled God in Christ Jesus; they will “love him,” I say, “with all their heart, and with all their soul.”

True indeed it is that they are very far from this state of mind at present; but so were the murderers of the Lord Jesus on the day of Pentecost; and yet in one hour were converted unto God. So shall it be in the day of God’s power, “a nation shall be born in a day;” “a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation; the Lord will hasten it in his time.”

Such being the prophetic import of the words, let us proceed to notice,

II. The reflections which these words naturally suggest.

The present dispersed state of the Jews from which they are in due time to be recovered, is a most instructive subject. We cannot but see,

1. What witnesses the Jews are for God.

The very person who brought them out of Egypt was inspired to foretell both their present dispersion, and their future restoration. The event has come to pass; and now for nearly eighteen hundred years have this people been scattered over the face of the whole earth, and are preserved as a distinct people in every place. The treatment they should meet with was most circumstantially foretold:

the hardships they would undergo Deuteronomy 28:53-57;

the oppression they would endure Deuteronomy 28:29;

the contempt in which they would be held Deuteronomy 28:37;

the conviction which they themselves, in common with all mankind, would feel, that their sufferings were inflicted by God himself on account of their iniquities Deuteronomy 29:21-28.

All, I say, was foretold; and all is come to pass; and they are living witnesses of the truth of God and of the divine authority of that book which they profess to have been inspired by him.

They may be even said to be witnesses also of the truth of Christianity, which is founded on the Jewish Scriptures, and is altogether the completion of them. What therefore God said to them in the days of old, may with yet augmented force be applied to them at this time, “You are my witnesses, that I am God, Isaiah 43:12.”

2. What warnings the Jews are to us.

Who that sees the present state of the Jews, and compares it with the predictions concerning them—must acknowledge that God abhors iniquity, and will surely punish it even in his most highly favored people! Methinks the sight of a Jew should produce this reflection in every mind. The Jews, because they were descended from the loins of Abraham, and had been distinguished by God above all the nations upon earth, imagined themselves to be safe; but when they had filled up the measure of their iniquities in the murder of their Messiah, the wrath of God came upon them to the uttermost!

Let not Christians therefore imagine that the name and profession of Christianity will screen them from the wrath of God. The sentence of exclusion from the heavenly Canaan is gone forth against all who reject the Lord Jesus Christ; and it will assuredly be executed upon them in due time; for “how shall they escape, if they neglect so great a salvation?” Our inquiry must be, not: Am I instructed in some particular tenets, or observant of some particular forms? But: Am I “circumcised in heart, so as to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart, and with all my soul?” This is the point to be ascertained; for “if any man loves not the Lord Jesus Christ, he will be Anathema Maranatha;” he will be accursed; and God himself will forever inflict the curse upon him.

3. What encouragement we have to seek the welfare of the Jews.

Notwithstanding God has given so many promises respecting them, the Christian world for many hundreds of years has scarcely thought them worthy of the smallest attention. Christians have been anxious for the welfare of heathens, and have sent missionaries into every quarter of the world to instruct them; but for the Jews they have felt no interest whatever; they have left them to perish without so much as an attempt for their conversion.

But what base ingratitude is this!

To whom are we ourselves indebted for all our privileges, but to Jews?

Who wrote, and preserved with such wonderful care, the Scriptures of the Old Testament?

Who wrote the New Testament, but Jews?

Who died to redeem our souls from death and Hell? A Jew.

Who at this moment makes intercession for us at the right hand of God? A Jew.

Who manages everything in Heaven and earth for our good, and is a fountain of all spiritual good to our souls? A Jew.

Of whom were the whole primitive Church composed for the first six or seven years? Jews.

Who went forth with their lives in their hands, to convert the Gentiles; and to whom are we indebted for all the light that we enjoy? They were Jews.

Have we then no debt of gratitude to them? And have we not reason to blush when we reflect on the manner in which we have requited them? Blessed be God! there are at last some stirred up to seek their welfare. [This sermon was preached in 1810] Let us unite with heart and hand, to help forward the blessed work. From what we see of their blindness and obduracy, we are apt to despond; but “the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save;” he can as easily engraft the Jews in again upon their own stock, as he could engraft us Gentiles upon it; and he has therefore engrafted us upon it, that we might exert ourselves in their favor, and be instrumental in restoring them to the blessings they have lost, Romans 11:30-31. Let us at least do what we can, and leave the outcome of our labors unto God.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Deuteronomy 29:29

“The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this Law.”

Never were mercies granted to any people, so rich as those which were given to Israel; nor were there ever judgments so signally, through successive ages, inflicted on any other nation, as on them. And all this was in accordance with prophecy, even with the prophecies which Moses himself delivered to them previous to their entrance into Canaan. All was known by God; and was foretold also, with sufficient clearness, if they would but learn to act in obedience to the divine warnings. To inquire into the reasons of God’s dealings with them, and especially to sit in judgment upon God as though he dealt harshly with them, would be to no purpose. The reasons of his determinations were hidden in his own bosom; and his determinations themselves were made known to them for their benefit; and God expected that they should make a suitable improvement of all the information which he had given them. This seems to be the general import of our text; from whence I shall take occasion to show,

I. The proper limit for our inquiries into the things of God.

God has been pleased to reveal much to us respecting his nature, his dealings, his purposes; but there is infinitely more which he has not seen fit to communicate; and which, if communicated, we would be no more able to comprehend, than a child could comprehend the deepest discoveries of philosophy. Even what we do know, we know only in part; in fact, our knowledge of everything is so superficial, that it scarcely deserves to be called knowledge; and, therefore, in relation to everything the utmost possible humility befits us. For, after all:

1. What do we know of God’s nature?

We are informed that “God is Spirit;” that he is, from all eternity, a self-existent Being; that “the Heaven of heavens cannot contain him.” But what idea have we of Spirit? What notion can we form of eternity and omnipresence? The greatest philosopher in the universe has not a whit more adequate conceptions of these things than a little infant. Nor do we, in reality, know anything more of the moral perfections of the Deity, than we do of those which we call natural. We speak of his holiness, and justice, and mercy, and truth; but our knowledge of these things is altogether negative; we merely know that he is not unholy, or unjust, or unmerciful, or untrue; and that is all.

And what shall I say to his subsistence in Three Persons, each possessing all the attributes of Deity, while yet there is but One God? We know:

that the Father is spoken of as the Fountain from whence all proceeds;

that the Son also is spoken of as executing all which the Father had ordained for the redemption of the world;

and that the Holy Spirit also is spoken of as applying to men all that the Son has purchased, and the Father ordained.

But of these things we know nothing beyond what God has told us in his Word; and if we attempt to descant upon them, “we only darken counsel by words without knowledge.”

In the contemplation of such mysteries, it befits us to bear in mind the pointed interrogations of Zophar, “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

They are higher than the heavens—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave—what can you know? Job 11:7-8.”

2. What do we know of God’s Providence?

We know that God orders everything both in Heaven and earth; and that without him “not a sparrow falls to the ground,” nor “a hair from our heads.” But will anyone inform us how God overrules the minds of voluntary agents, so as infallibly to accomplish his own will, and yet not participate in the evils which they commit? Our blessed Lord was put to death “by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God;” and yet, throughout the whole of that scene, the agents followed altogether the dictates of their own hearts, and “with wicked hands crucified and slew him!” And will anyone inform us how this was done?

And if we know so little of God’s Providence, who shall declare to us the wonders of his Grace? Will anyone tell us why the world was left four thousand years before the Savior was sent to redeem it? Or why Abraham was chosen in preference to all other people upon earth, that the Savior should descend from him, and that it should be in the line of Isaac and Jacob, rather than through the line of Ishmael and Esau?

Will anyone tell us how the Spirit of God acts upon the souls of some, to quicken, sanctify, and save them; while others never experience these operations; or experience his influence only in such a degree as ultimately to aggravate their eternal condemnation? Let anyone only explain how the mind operates upon matter in any one motion of his own body—and if he cannot explain this, then how shall he presume to judge of God, “whose ways are in the great deep, and his paths past finding out?”

3. What do we know of God’s purposes?

We are assured that “God does everything according to the counsel of his own will; and that none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What are you doing?” But who has searched the records of Heaven, so as to tell us what shall come to pass, either in reference to nations, or to any solitary individual? Our blessed Lord repeatedly checked all presumptuous inquiries into these things. When his disciples asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority, Acts 1:6-7.” And when Peter inquired of him respecting John, “Lord, what shall this man do? our Lord replied, If I will that he tarry until I come, what is that to you?”

In truth, we know nothing of God; nothing of what he is, or does, or will do, any further than he has been pleased to reveal himself to us; and all our inquiries respecting him should issue in that profound adoring exclamation, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Romans 11:33.”

Instead of complaining that our knowledge is so circumscribed, we should be thankful that it extends so far; for if there is little communicated to gratify a foolish curiosity, there is everything made known to us that can conduce to our present and eternal welfare.

This idea points out to us,

II. The proper use to be made of all the Scriptural knowledge we obtain.

Everything that God has revealed is intended to have a practical effect on us; and everything contained in Holy Writ has a direct tendency to convey some spiritual benefit to our souls. Let us briefly trace this in:

1. What is revealed concerning God and his perfections.

All that is spoken in Scripture upon this sublime subject, tends to fill us with holy fear, and love, and confidence; and to bring us to God, as his obedient subjects and servants.

2. What is revealed concerning Christ and his offices.

There is no way to the Father but through the Son. When, therefore, we read of him as the Prophet, Priest, and King of his people, we are of necessity taugt to look to him for:

the illumination of our minds,

the pardon of our sins,

the subjugation of all our spiritual enemies.

We are taught to “live altogether by faith in him, who has loved us, and given himself for us!”

3. What is revealed concerning the Holy Spirit and his operations.

If we can come to God only through the Son, so neither have we any access to him but by the Spirit, Ephesians 2:18. Hence, in desiring his gracious influences, we should seek to have the whole work of grace wrought within us, and to be “transformed into the divine image,” and be “made fit for our eternal inheritance.”

4. What is revealed concerning the Gospel with all its promises and precepts.

Nothing of this is to he contemplated as a mere matter of speculation; but the whole Gospel is to be embraced as a remedy, as a remedy suited to our wants and sufficient for our necessities. Every promise of it is to be embraced as a ground of hope; and every precept in it is to be obeyed as an evidence of our faith and love.

5. What is revealed concerning the realities of the eternal world.

No one ever came from Heaven or from Hell to inform us what those states were, or what was the full import of those terms under which those states are displayed. Nor is it of importance to us to know more of them in this world. We already know enough to call forth into activity our hopes and our fears; and our wisdom is so to improve our knowledge of them, as to “flee from the wrath to come,” and to “lay hold on eternal life!”

In a word, “whatever is revealed belongs to us and to our children forever, that in all succeeding ages we should follow all the words of God’s Law,” and approve ourselves to him as a faithful and obedient people.

Hence, then, we may see:

1. What answer we should make to the proud objector.

People will sit in judgment upon God and his revealed will, as if they were capable of determining, by their own wisdom, what was fitting for him to reveal or do; and they will decide with confidence on all which they either see or hear, precisely as if they were competent to weigh in a balance all the mysteries of divine wisdom. With what impious boldness will many revile the mystery of a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead; the incarnation of Christ, and his sin-atoning sacrifice; and the influences of the Holy Spirit. But to all such proud objectors I will say, with Paul, “Nay but, O man! who are you that replies against God? Romans 9:20.” You mistake utterly the province of reason, if you think that she is to sit in judgment upon such mysteries as these. She is to judge whether the book which we call the Bible, is of divine inspiration; but when that is once admitted, then she must give way to faith, whose office it is to embrace all that God has revealed, and to make use of it for the ends and purposes for which he has revealed it. And if you will presume to “reprove God, you shall surely answer for it, Job 40:2;” for “he gives no account to man of any of his matters, Job 33:13.”

2. What direction we should give to the humble inquirer.

There may be many things brought to your ears which are above your comprehension, and which you may find it difficult to receive. But there is a standard to which every sentiment may be referred, and a touchstone by which every doctrine may be tried. Our blessed Lord said to those who doubted the propriety of his instructions, “Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me! John 5:39.” And the Prophet Isaiah told his hearers to bring everything to this test, “To the Law, and to the testimony—if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no truth in them, Isaiah 8:20.” All that is needful for you to know, is contained in God’s Word.

Whatever agrees with God’s Word, is true.

Whatever is contrary to God’s Word, is false.

And whatever cannot be determined by God’s Word, may well be left among those “secret things which belong to God alone.”

3. What encouragement we are to afford to the true believer.

“The secret of the Lord,” we are told, “is with those who fear him; and he will show them his covenant, Psalm 25:14.” Yes, this is indeed a most encouraging truth. Not that we are to suppose that God will give any new revelation to his people—we have no reason whatever to expect that. But he will shine upon his revealed truth, so that they shall have a perception of it which others have not.

I need not tell you how much clearer anything is discerned when the sun shines upon it; or how much more accurately it is seen when the eye is fixed more intently on it; or how things most minute or distant are rendered distinctly visible by glasses suited to our organs of sight.

Now, in all these ways will God reveal his secrets to the believing soul. He will, by his Spirit, cast a flood of light upon the Word; and make the soul most eager to apprehend his truth; and by the medium of faith bring that truth directly upon the tablet of the mind; and thus fulfill that promise, “All your people shall be taught of God, John 6:45.” Yes, “he will guide the meek in judgment; he will teach the meek his way, Psalm 25:9.”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Deuteronomy 29:19-20

When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way.” This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. The LORD will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under Heaven.

God has declared that he “desires not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live;” and this is abundantly evident from the forbearance which he exercises towards sinners, and from the means he has used for their restoration to his favor. When he brought the Israelites out of Egypt, he entered into covenant with them on Mount Horeb; and when that whole generation had perished in consequence of their violations of his covenant, he was graciously pleased to renew the covenant with their children in the land of Moab; and the reason he gives for that condescending kindness is, lest they should presumptuously sin, and miserably perish, after the example of their fathers. See verses 1, 15, 18-20.

In the words which we have just read, he intimates,

I. The astonishing delusion of sinners.

That the greatest part of mankind are walking after the imaginations of their own hearts, is evident; and that God denounces his vengeance against them, is equally evident; yet on every side we behold,

1. Their fearlessness.

God speaks to them in the plainest terms, that “the soul that sins shall die,” and that “the wicked shall be turned into Hell, even all the people that forget God.” They themselves too cannot but acknowledge, that “the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” Yet they hear the denunciations of God’s wrath with perfect indifference; they account them not worth the smallest consideration; yes, to use the expressive language of the Psalmist, “they puff at them, Psalm 10:5.” What though they do “set at nothing God’s law, and walk rather after the imagination of their own hearts?” What though they do “add drunkenness to thirst.” “Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes, Isaiah 5:18,” adding fresh materials continually, and drawing it out without any intermission to an indefinite length, will God regard such trifling matters? No! He does not see them, or deem them worthy of his notice! Psalm 10:11 and Job 22:13-14. God does indeed threaten to punish these things; but he will never execute his threatenings.’

If any mere men threaten their temporal welfare, they are open enough to the impressions of fear, and anxious enough to escape the danger; but if God threatens them with his everlasting displeasure, they regard it as an empty sound. Thus do they cast off all fear of God, and treat both him and his Word with the utmost contempt! Psalm 10:13.

2. Their self-delight.

They can see no evil in sin; they are sensible that they do not conform to God’s law; nor indeed have they any wish to do so. Yet they imagine that though their actions are not correct, their hearts are good; they mean no harm; and that, in their estimation, comprehends all that is required of them. It is truly astonishing to see how, in the midst of all their iniquities, men will “bless themselves in their hearts,” as much as if there were nothing amiss in their conduct at all.

They quite resent the idea of being sinners, and of deserving God’s wrath and indignation. They conceive that they are very good sort of people (as the expression is), and deserving of God’s favor. Thus it was with the Jews of old, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these! Jeremiah 7:4;” they thought that no expressions were too strong to characterize their goodness.

And thus do sinners in this day boast of their goodness; yes, not only the moral and sober do so, but even the drunken, the sensual, the profane—all are ready to think themselves as good as they need to be, and to answer, like the young man in the Gospel, “What do I still lack?” So blinded are they by Satan, and hardened through the deceitfulness of their own hearts!

3. Their confidence.

They entertain no doubts or fears; they think that all go to Heaven, and that they must of necessity be happy when they die. “I shall have peace,” is the bold assertion of every one among them; nor will they allow the safety of their state to be once questioned. On some occasions perhaps a suspicion arises in their minds that it is not quite so well with them as they imagine; but in general they go on as assured of happiness as if all the promises of the Gospel were on their side!

Nor is this only in the thoughtlessness of youth; their confidence increases with their age; and even in death they frequently retain it to such a degree as to feel no fear of death; and this delusion of theirs is considered by the survivors as an evidence of their final acceptance. Well does the prophet say of them, “A deceived heart has turned them aside, so that they cannot deliver their souls, nor say: Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

But God views them with other eyes, and denounces,

II. Their awful doom.

The terms in which this is declared are sufficient to alarm the most careless sinner. The wrath of God is here denounced against him. This must be his portion:

1. Their awful doom is infallibly certain.

Sinners imagine that God cannot inflict punishment; they suppose that if not inconsistent with his justice, it would at least be contrary to his acknowledged goodness and benignity. They think that, when the time comes, that God will relent, and spare them. But, in our text, he meets that error, and declares, “The Lord will not spare him.” “I have spared him long enough,” the Lord will say, “I bore with all his wickedness for many years;” “I waited long to be gracious to him;” “I called to him, but he would not hear; I entreated him, but he refused to hearken; and therefore he now may call, and I will not hear; I will even laugh at his calamity, and mock when his fear is come.”

Now God would “turn from the evil which he has thought to bring” on any sinner—if that sinner sincerely repents. But how inflexible God will be in that day, the prophet has abundantly declared, Ezekiel 8:18; Ezekiel 24:14. The sinner may “knock at the door which is shut against him, saying: Lord, Lord, open to me; but I will say, Depart from me, I never knew you, you worker of iniquity.”

2. Their doom is inexpressibly severe.

What must it be to have “the anger and the jealousy of Almighty God” incensed, and so incensed, as to be, as it were, “smoking against us?” But, to form a just idea of the sinner’s doom, we must take all the most terrific passages of the Word of God, and contemplate all the images contained in them, and then conceive of all of them combined to fill up the measure of his misery. Oh, if we think of “that lake that burns with fire and brimstone,” “where the worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched,” where there is nothing but “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth,” and “the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever!” What an idea does it all give us of the judgments that await the impenitent transgressor! Yet these, yes and “all the curses that are written in the sacred volume” from one end of it even to the other, shall come upon him, and shall “lie and abide upon him forever and ever!”

Once, if he had sought for mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ, he would have been blessedly saved. But now “God will blot out his name from under Heaven,” and it shall be found registered only with those of the devil and his angels!

We are well aware that these truths are unwelcome to the generality of men; but it is infinitely better to contemplate them in time, than to be left to experience them in eternity.

Let us learn then from this subject,

1. To have compassion on the ungodly world.

Were we to see men in danger of perishing in the sea, the most hardened among us would be moved to compassion. Why then do we not pity those who are ready every moment to sink into the flames of Hell? That they themselves are not alarmed is rather the reason why we should feel the more alarmed; because their foot will infallibly “slide in due time,” and “the wrath of God will come upon them to the uttermost.” Let “our eyes then run down with tears for them,” and “our head be a fountain of tears to weep for them day and night.” Let our efforts too be exerted to awaken them to a timely care of their own souls.

2. To be on our guard against being influenced by their advice.

Those who see not their own danger, will be equally secure respecting us, Ezekiel 13:22, and will endeavor to lull us asleep by their confident assertions. But, if their presumption will not benefit themselves, it will assuredly not benefit us.

The antediluvian world, and the inhabitants of Sodom, despised the warnings given them, and accounted them as idle tales; but the threatened judgments came at last, and the deceivers and deceived perished in one indiscriminate mass! So will it be at the end of the world, 2 Peter 2:4-9. Every tittle of God’s Word shall be fulfilled; and therefore let those who would draw you back to the world be disregarded by you, Ephesians 5:6. “Let God be true, but every man a liar!”

3. To be thankful if God has made us to differ from them.

What reason had Noah and Lot to be thankful that they were enabled to believe the divine testimony! And truly, if we are enabled to come forth from an ungodly world, and to enter into the true Ark, the Lord Jesus Christ—we have no less reason to be thankful than they. It is no less the fruit of God’s sovereign grace, than was the mercy given to them. Let us then be increasingly watchful against presumptuous confidence, and all the delusions of our own hearts; and, in an unreserved attention to all God’s commands, let us “keep ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life!”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Deuteronomy 29:4

“The Lord has not given you a heart to perceive, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, unto this day.”

There is nothing more comforting to a minister, than to see “the word of the Lord running and glorified” among the people of his charge. On the other hand, it is extremely painful to him to find that his labors have been in a great measure in vain. Yet such are the reflections which many a faithful minister is led to make, after an attentive survey of his ministrations.

The Prophet Isaiah felt occasion to lament this, in his day; saying, “Who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Isaiah 53:1.”

Our blessed Lord had but too much reason to make a similar complaint respecting the outcome of his labors also, John 12:37-38.

Thus we find Moses, after the most indefatigable exertions for the space of forty years, constrained to adopt towards the Jewish people the language of my text, “The Lord has not given you a heart to perceive, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, unto this day.”

Would to God that there were not grounds, also, for similar complaint among us, my brethren! But Christian fidelity compels me to declare, that to a most lamentable extent these words are verified in this place.

I. The complaint as uttered by Moses against the people of his charge.

They had “seen” with their bodily eyes all the wonders that had been wrought for them in Egypt and the wilderness. But they had no spiritual perception of them. They did not understand

1. They did not understand the true character of that dispensation.

They viewed the various occurrences as so many separate and detached events; and had no idea of their figurative import, no conception of them as shadows of good things to come. They saw not that more wonderful redemption which was typically exhibited to their view. The paschal lamb led them not to the contemplation of their Messiah, and of the deliverance which he should effect through the shedding, and the sprinkling, of his most precious blood. Their subsistence by manna, and by water from the rock, served not to show them what it was to live by faith on the Son of God, or to experience in their souls the refreshing communications of the Spirit of God.

And though they had already seen a portion of land given to three of their tribes—yet did they not contemplate the outcome of a believer’s warfare in the possession of the heavenly Canaan. As for the Law that had been given to them, whether the moral or ceremonial law, they knew not the true intent of either; they had no idea of the one as shutting them up to the only possible way of salvation through faith in their Messiah, or of the other as shadowing forth that Messiah in all his offices. In fact, they had no spiritual discernment of any of these things, but were uninstructed and unedified by all that they had seen and heard All these hints admit of profitable enlargement.

2. They did not understand the obligations which these wonders entailed upon them.

The very first and most obvious effect of all these wonders should have been to bring them to the knowledge of Jehovah as the only true God, and to make them his faithful worshipers and adherents to the last hour of their lives. Yet, behold! they had not been delivered from Egypt three months, before they made and worshiped the golden calf; yes, and all the way through the wilderness they “took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of their God Remphan—figures which they made as objects of their worship, Acts 7:41-43,” in preference to Jehovah, whom thus they provoked to jealousy, until he was constrained to pour forth his wrath upon them to their destruction. It might well be expected, too, that they would yield up themselves to God in a willing obedience to his Law, and live altogether devoted to his service.

But they were “a rebellious and stiff-necked people,” from first to last. The mercies of God could not win them to obedience, nor his judgments deter them from disobedience. The present and future gratification of their senses was all that they desired; and, if only they had their enjoyments, they cared not whether God was glorified or not.

We say not that this was the character of all that people; but when we recollect, that of that whole nation only two, of all the men that came out of Egypt, were allowed to enter into Canaan, we cannot but fear that the exceptions were very few, and the great mass of the people were of the very description represented in our text.

As humiliating as this complaint is, we must also consider it,

II. The complaint as uttered by Moses applicable to ourselves at this day.

Infinitely greater have our advantages been than those enjoyed by the Jewish people. They had the shadow only, but we the substance. The whole of redemption has been set before us; yet we, for the most part, have but a very faint and inadequate conception of it.

1. By the great mass of nominal Christians, the nature of the Gospel is very indistinctly seen.

A mere general notion of salvation by Christ may be entertained; but of the grace of the Gospel, its freeness, its fullness, its suitableness—how little is seen! How far are we from “comprehending the length and breadth, and depth and height of the love of Christ” contained in it! How few among us have any just views of “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” and of all the divine perfections, as united, and harmonizing, and glorified, in this stupendous mystery! The various offices of the sacred Three, all sustained and executed for us, how little of them is known! Indeed, indeed, the generality of those who call themselves Christians are as dark with respect to the excellency and glory of the Gospel, as the Jews themselves were of the scope and character of their Law.

2. By the great mass of nominal Christians, the effects of the gospel are very poorly experienced.

What might we expect from those who have been redeemed by the blood of God’s only dear Son, and renewed in their souls by the operation of his blessed Spirit?

Should we not be full of admiring and adoring thoughts of God?

Should we not be enrapt, even to the third Heaven, in love to Christ?

Should we not be “yielding up both our bodies and our souls to God, as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to him as our reasonable service?”

And to what an extent should we be sanctified, in all our tempers, dispositions, and actions—if we were duly influenced by the principles of the Gospel! In a word, if we felt as we ought, methinks our every feeling would be love, and our every word be praise.

But look at the great majority of those to whom the Gospel has been ministered, and say whether any measure of these effects are visible upon them? Alas! it is as true of us as of the Jews, that “God has not given us a heart to perceive, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, unto this day.”

Let me then address myself:

1. To those who are altogether blind.

Perhaps you will be disposed to say, “If God has not given me this discernment, the fault is not mine.” But this is a fatal error; for the fault is altogether yours. Had you sought of God the illuminating influences of his Spirit—then he would have opened your blind eyes, and unstopped your deaf ears, and renewed you in the spirit of your mind; no earthly parent would so readily bestow bread on his famished child, as God would have given to you his Holy Spirit in answer to your prayers. If, then, you “perish for lack of knowledge,” it must be ascribed to your own obstinate neglect of those means which God has appointed for the attainment of spiritual instruction.

2. To those who think they see.

Multitudes, like the Pharisees of old, are ready to ask with confidence, “Are we blind also?” To these we reply, Let your lives declare; let the fruit determine the quality of the tree. Yes, brethren, “if you were indeed blind, you would comparatively have no sin; but now you say, We see; therefore your sin remains! John 9:40-41.” Your conceit and self-sufficiency render your blindness tenfold more odious, more incurable, and more fatal.

3. To those whose eyes God has genuinely opened.

Truly, the mercy given to you is great beyond measure or conception. You doubtless feel what a blessing the gift of reason is, which so elevates you above the beasts; but far richer is the gift of spiritual discernment, which enables you to see “the things of the Spirit,” and elevates you above your fellow-men, even above the wisest and greatest of the human race! Compare the Apostles with the philosophers of Greece and Rome. Mark, not merely their intellectual powers, but their moral habits and their spiritual attainments; then will you have some conception of the mercies given to you, and will appreciate, in some poor measure, the obligations conferred upon you.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Deuteronomy 28:58-59

“If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God, then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses!”

We admire the fidelity of Moses, who “declared to Israel the whole counsel of God,” “not withholding from them anything whereby they might be profited.” To deliver such warnings as are contained in this chapter, must have been inexpressibly painful to him. But he had no alternative, unless indeed he would subject himself to all the curses here denounced; and involve himself, as well as them, in all the consequences of his unfaithfulness and concealment.

Brethren, the same necessity lies on us also; we must, at the peril of our souls, deliver all that God has commissioned us to declare; and, if we fail to do so, not only will “you perish in your iniquities, but your blood will be required at our hands, Ezekiel 33:8.” Bear with me, then, I beg you, while with becoming fidelity I set before you,

I. What God requires of us.

God is indeed a great and glorious Being, “a God of solemn majesty, Job 37:22,” “before whom the pillars of Heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof, Job 26:11.” And he requires that “we fear his glorious and fearful name.”

1. God requires that we regard him with reverential awe.

Truly “he is greatly to be feared, and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him.” When he came down upon Mount Sinai in the presence of all Israel, not a soul except Moses was allowed to approach him; and, if even a beast had touched the mountain, it must immediately be slain. So great was the terror which his presence inspired, that even “Moses himself said, I exceedingly fear and quake! Hebrews 12:20-21.” And he is still the same God, though he does not manifest himself in the same way. Yes, under the New Testament, as well as the Old Testament, we are taught to bear this in mind, that “our God is a consuming fire, and never to be approached but with reverence and godly fear! Hebrews 12:28-29.”

2. God requires that we regard him with obediential love.

This is the point more especially noticed in the passage before us; and wherever the fear of God is, it must of necessity manifest itself in this way. There will be a real desire to please God; and a full conviction that every command of his is “holy, and just, and good.” Nothing will be deemed “a hard saying;” nothing will be accounted “grievous.” We shall not wish for any limit to our obedience; but shall regard the entire surrender of our souls to him as a reasonable service. This is the conclusion to which Solomon came, after carefully weighing the whole matter, “Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty (and end, and happiness) of man! Ecclesiastes 12:13.”

3. God requires that we regard him with undivided attachment.

God will not endure a rival in our affections. He must have the whole heart; and the person who shall dare to offer him “a divided heart, shall surely be found guilty before him! Hosea 10:2.” It is true, we do not give way to gross idolatry, like those to whom our text was addressed; but if we look into “the chambers of imagery” within us, we shall find as many idols as ever were worshiped in the time of Israel’s most determined apostasy! Ezekiel 8:9-12.

God is still, as he ever was, a jealous God,” who “will not have his glory given to another;” yes, “his very name is, Jealous! Exodus 34:14.” Know, then, that you must not “set your affections on anything here below,” but have them all concentrated on him, fearing nothing, desiring nothing, confiding in nothing, in comparison with him. Father and mother, wife and children, houses and lands—yes, and our own life also, must all be subordinated to him, and sacrificed for him, whenever our duty to him shall call for it. We must love and serve him, him supremely, him only, him exclusively!

Hear, then, I entreat you,

II. What we must expect at his hands, if we do not comply with his requisitions.

The Lord made the plagues of his people truly extraordinary. Never since the world began was any nation visited with such heavy judgments as they, Lamentations 1:12, nor will there ever be the like again, even to the end of time, Mark 13:19. They are, and were designed to be, “a sign unto us, verse 46.” Truly, then, if we do fear not God, “our plagues also shall be extraordinary.” They shall be extraordinary,

1. Here.

Look at the different nations of the world, and see what tormentors they are to each other. Behold also the famines, pestilences, earthquakes, which God sends at different times, as “avengers of his quarrel” with those who rebel against him.

See too, the whole frame of society, whether in larger bodies or in private families; and behold what feuds obtain among them, insomuch that there is scarcely a body to be found, the members of which are not arrayed more or less in mutual hostility, and contributing to each other’s disquiet.

Take all the different individuals of mankind; there is scarcely one who has attained the age of manhood, or, at all events, been long settled in the world, without having, in some respect or other, his very life embittered to him; so that at times, if there had been no future state of existence, he would have almost wished for death as a release from his troubles.

Mark the tempers which agitate men’s minds, and the curse which there is even upon their blessings, insomuch that those who most abound in this world’s goods are frequently the most miserable of mankind. Thus, even in this world, does God fulfill his threatening in our text, and “make our plagues extraordinary.”

2. Hereafter.

Who can conceive a soul, at its first entrance into the invisible world, beholding all at once the face of an angry and avenging God? How does it startle back from him, and cry to rocks and mountains to hide it from God’s presence!

Who can conceive of that soul hearing from its Judge those terrific words, “Depart from Me, you who are accursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels!”

Who can conceive of Hell opening for its reception, and the man cast, body and soul, “into the lake of fire and brimstone,” “where the worm of an accusing conscience never dies, and the fire is never quenched!”

Who can conceive of the soul’s retrospect of the mercies it has despised, and the opportunities it has forever lost?

Above all, who can conceive its prospects of eternity, as the duration of all the misery to which it is consigned?

Say, Beloved, whether then the plagues will not be extraordinary? Now they may be laughed at and despised; but when this cup of God’s indignation shall be put into the sinner’s hands, and he is left to drink it to the very dregs—then there will be an end of all his laughter, and to all eternity will he be occupied in “weeping and wailing and gnashing his teeth!”

Behold, then:

“I now set life and death before you.” Say, which of the two you will choose. If you doubt the fulfillment of God’s threatenings, read the sad catalogue of woes that were denounced against the Jews, and tell me if so much as one of them has failed of its accomplishment. Indeed, my brethren, every Jew you see is a witness for God, that His word shall be fulfilled in all its fearful extent.

But, on the other hand, let me say that the converse of our text is also true. Yes, if you fear and obey the Lord, your blessings also shall be extraordinary. Even in this world “the peace of God’s obedient people passes all understanding,” and their joy is often unspeakable and glorified.

If you could follow a believing soul into the eternal world;

if you could behold it when first it is introduced into the presence of its God and Savior;

if you could see it, while the Judge of the living and the dead is pronouncing that laudatory sentence, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord!”

if, further, you could behold it in the very bosom of its God, invested with a happiness which can never be interrupted, and a glory that shall never end

—then you would say that its blessedness is truly extraordinary!

Why, then, brethren, should you not seek this bliss? Why will you cast it all away, and treasure up for yourselves the sad alternative, even the misery that shall endure for evermore? I beg you, be wise in time; and consider your latter end, before it is too late! And I pray God, that what has been spoken may now be so impressed upon your minds, that that which took place in Jerusalem may never be realized in you, “Her filthiness clung to her skirts; she did not consider her latter end. Her fall was astounding; there was none to comfort her!” Lamentations 1:9.”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Deuteronomy 27:26

‘Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’

And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

The law here spoken of is the moral law Several particulars of the moral law are enumerated from verse 15 to the end; and here it is mentioned summarily, as comprehending the whole. This every person is bound to keep in its utmost extent. The curse of God is denounced against every violation of it. This sanction, tremendous as it is, should be universally approved. Hence God commanded his people to express their approbation of it. “Amen” in Scripture signifies an affirmation, John 3:3, or a wish, Matthew 6:13. The adding of “Amen” to the doctrine of the text implies,

I. The adding of “Amen” to the doctrine of the text implies an assent to its truth.

The doctrine is, that the law of God curses us for one offence.

This is often, through ignorance of the Scriptures, denied; but it may be established by a cloud of witnesses.

Death is declared to be the necessary fruit of sin James 1:15.

Every deviation from the line of duty subjects us to God’s wrath, Romans 1:18. An idle word is sufficient to condemn us Matthew, 12:36. The most secret thought is punishable by our Judge, Ecclesiastes 12:14. Omissions of duty will entail on us the same judgments, Matthew 25:30. A violation of the law in one point ensures condemnation as truly, though not as severely, as a rejection of the whole, James 2:10. One single transgression brought misery on the whole world, Romans 5:12; Romans 5:18-19; and this was agreeable to the terms of the Adamic covenant, Genesis 2:17. Paul speaks of this penalty as still in force, Romans 6:23. It is not said that death is the wages of much or heinous sin, but of sin—that is of any and every sin. He even cites the very words of the text in proof of the doctrine which we deduce from them, Galatians 3:10. Hence the law is called “a ministration of death.”

None, however, will cordially assent to the truth of this doctrine until they see ground for,

II. A confession of its reasonableness.

The law, both in its extent and sanctions, is highly reasonable.

We would not be understood to make the doctrine depend on its reasonableness, and much less on our statement of its reasonableness; we only wish to vindicate it from the objections which unhumbled reason would bring against it. If we were not able to urge one reason in its defense, it would be quite sufficient to say, ‘God has revealed it, and therefore it must be reasonable;’ for nothing can be unreasonable which proceeds from him.

That one sin may reasonably subject us to condemnation appears:

From analogy.

Offences in civil society are rated according to the dignity of the person against whom they are committed. Should we strike an inferior, an equal, a superior, a benefactor, a parent, a sovereign—the offence would proportionally rise; so that, what in one case might be expiated by a small fine, in another would be counted worthy of death.

Now sin is committed against an infinitely great and good God. Hence it contracts an inexpressible malignity. Moreover one act of treason is punished with death. Nor is this judged unreasonable in human governments. Why then may not the death of the soul be annexed to every instance of rebellion against God? Is not God’s majesty to be regarded as well as man’s? and his government to be supported as well as man’s?

From the nature of sin.

Sin:

dishonors God,

takes part with Satan,

and unfits for Heaven!

Are these such light evils, that they not only may, but must be overlooked?

Is God forced to honor those who dishonor him?

Has not He as much right to be our enemy, as we have to be his?

When he sees us destitute of any love to him:

Is he bound to renew our hearts that we may be capable of enjoying him?

Is he unjust if he leaves us to eat the fruit of our own way?

Is it unreasonable that God should vindicate his own honor?

Are we at liberty to insult him, and he not to punish us?

May we be his enemies, and must he treat us as friends?

When our first parents sinned, was God obliged to remedy the evil they had brought upon themselves?

Might he not have left them, as he had already left the fallen angels?

Was there any necessity that God should assume the human nature, and offer himself as a sacrifice for his creatures’ sin?

If so, they, even after their fall, might have disdained to ask for Heaven as a gift; they might still have demanded it as a debt. Then God is under a law, and we are free from a law; we are free to live as we please; and he is under a necessity to save us at all events. The absurdity of such positions is obvious!

But an extorted confession of its reasonableness is not sufficient.

God requires of us further,

III. An acknowledgment of its excellency.

The law thus sanctioned is truly excellent; any other would have been less worthy of the great Lawgiver.

Had it required less than perfect obedience, or had the penalty of transgressing it been no more than a temporary punishment, neither his holiness nor his justice would have been so conspicuous.

Any other would have been more ruinous to man.

A permission to violate that law in ever so small a degree would have been a licence to make ourselves miserable. Had death been annexed to many transgressions, and not to one:

We would have been at a loss to know our state.

We would have been with more difficulty drawn from seeking righteousness by our obedience to the law.

We would have seen less evil in transgressing the law.

We would have been less anxious to obtain a saving interest in Christ.

Thus, though mercy is provided, we would have been less likely to obtain it, or to secure its continuance.

Any other would have been less honorable to Christ.

He would have endured less suffering for us. His interposition for us had been less needed; it would have discovered far less love. The obligations conferred by it would have been comparatively small. He would have been less honored by all. Some would have been saved without his aid. Many would, to eternity, have ascribed the honor of their salvation to themselves.

In this view “the ministration of death was glorious, 2 Corinthians 3:7; 2 Corinthians 3:9-11.”

Such a discovery of its excellency will immediately produce,

IV. An approbation of it with respect to our own particular case.

A person taught of God will cordially approve of this law; he will love it as the means of humbling him in the dust.

It reveals to him, as in a looking-glass, his manifold transgressions. It convinces him of his desert of punishment. It shows him the impossibility of making reparation to God. It constrains him to cry, “Save me, Lord, or I perish!” And thus it brings him to the state he most desires, Luke 18:13.

He will delight in it as endearing Christ to his soul.

The depth of his disorder makes him value the Physician. He sees his need of one to “bear the iniquity of his holy things, Exodus 28:38.” He finds that Christ is set forth for this very purpose Romans 10:4. Hence he rejoices in Christ as his Almighty Savior.

Such an approbation of it was expressed by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 11:3; Jeremiah 11:5. Paul also highly commends it in this view, Romans 7:12; and every true Christian can adopt his Words, Romans 7:22.

APPLICATION.

Let us study this law as a covenant. Let us acknowledge our condemnation by it. Let it serve as a “schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, Galatians 3:24.” Let that declaration be the ground of our hope, Galatians 3:13.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Deuteronomy 26:16-19

“The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him. And the LORD has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. He has declared that he will set you in praise, name and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.”

The covenant which was made with the Jews at Mount Horeb, though materially different from that which exists under the Christian dispensation, was yet intended to shadow forth that which all Christians are called upon to enter into with our God. The Jewish covenant had respect in a great measure to temporal blessings, the bestowment of which was suspended entirely on their performance of certain conditions; whereas ours relates altogether to spiritual blessings; and though it has conditions as well as theirs, it provides strength for the performance of them, and thereby secures from failure all those who cordially embrace it. We may take occasion therefore from the words before us to consider,

I. Our covenant engagements.

The Jews were required to avow, or profess openly, their acceptance of God as their God, and their determination to obey his will in all things; and such are the engagements which we also are called to take upon ourselves under the Christian dispensation:

1. To accept God as our God.

The Jews had most satisfactory evidence that Jehovah was the only true God, and that he alone was worthy to be worshiped and adored. But, as great as were the evidences of his kindness towards them, they are nothing in comparison with the demonstrations of his love to us. The gift of his only dear Son to die for us must forever eclipse every other expression of his love, Romans 5:8; and this peculiarly distinguishes the view in which we are to accept him; we must regard him as our incarnate God, as “God in Christ Jesus, reconciling the world unto himself, and not imputing their trespasses unto them.”

Think a moment what is implied in such an acceptance of God; it supposes:

that we feel our guilty, helpless, and hopeless state by nature;

that we see the suitableness and sufficiency of the provision which God has made for us in the Son of his love;

and that we are determined to have no dependence on anything but on the meritorious death and the all-sufficient grace of the Lord Jesus.

But it is not merely a secret determination which God requires; that determination must be avowed—we must avow him to be the Lord our God. We must not be ashamed of Christ, but must “confess him before men,” and be as bold in acknowledging him, as the ungodly are in their allegiance to the god of this world.

2. To act towards God as befits us in that relation.

Universal obedience to his commands was promised by the Jews of old; and the same must be promised by us also. We need not attempt to discriminate between the various terms here used; this we are sure is intended by them: that we are to yield obedience to the whole of his will as far as we know it, neither regarding anything as unworthy of our notice, nor anything as too difficult for us to perform; we must “hearken to his voice,” as the angels in Heaven do, Psalm 103:20, with an unwearied solicitude to know more of his will, and an incessant readiness to comply with the first intimations of it.

We must be searching and meditating continually to find out what he speaks to us in his written word; and be listening also attentively to the still small voice of his Spirit, speaking to us in our consciences; and, whatever we ascertain to be his mind and will, that we are to do without hesitation, and without reserve.

Now this we must determine through grace to do. We must not come to God only as a Savior to deliver us, but also as a Lord to govern us; and we must resolve that henceforth “no other Lord shall have dominion over us.” Nor must this determination be kept secret; this also must be openly avowed; we must let it be seen “whose we are, and whom we serve;” and must evince a firmness in his service which neither the terrors nor allurements of the world can ever shake.

Precisely corresponding with our engagements are,

II. Our covenant advantages.

God affords us ample encouragement to “lay hold on his covenant;” for he avows his determination,

1. To own us as his redeemed people.

The very moment that we look to Christ as “all our salvation and all our desire,” God will set his seal upon us as “his special treasure.” Just as a person who has bought anything of great value, regards it from that moment as his own property, and uses all proper methods for the securing the full possession of it, so does God, “he sets apart the godly for himself;” he gives “his angels charge over him,” and “owns” him from that day to be “his purchased possession.” He “owns” it, I say, and makes it manifest both to the man himself and to the world around him.

To the man himself he gives “the Spirit of adoption, enabling him to cry, Abba, Father!” and to ascertain, by “the witness of that Spirit, that he is a child of God, Romans 8:15-16.” To the world around him also God makes it manifest, by enabling him to “walk as Christ walked,” and “to shine as a light in the midst of a dark benighted world.”

Instantly does the change in him become apparent, so that his friends and neighbors cannot but confess that he is a new creature; and, though some will ascribe the change to one thing, and some to another, they are constrained to acknowledge, that his new mode of life is such as they cannot attain to, and such as approves itself to be the very work of God himself.

2. To bestow on us blessings worthy of that relation.

The first thing which the child of God desires, is holiness; and behold, as soon as ever he embraces the Christian covenant, God engages to make him holy, and to enable him “to keep all his commandments.” This is a peculiar point of difference between the Jewish covenant and ours, as we have already observed; and it is that which is our greatest encouragement under the consciousness we feel of our own weakness. God “will put his Sprit within us, and cause us to walk in his statutes, Ezekiel 36:25-27.” This is actually a part of his covenant engagements; and must be esteemed by us as our security for the enjoyment of all our other advantages.

Together with this does God undertake to give us the most exalted honor and happiness, “he will make us high above all people in praise, and in name, and in honor.” “Behold,” says the Apostle, “what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!” Yes, he “calls us not servants, but friends,” yes, “sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty.” For us has he prepared crowns and kingdoms, that we may “sit with him on his throne,” and be partakers of his glory forever and ever. This, and infinitely more than language can express, has “God prepared for those who love him,” and who embrace “his covenant of life and peace;” and he pledges his truth and faithfulness for the performance of his Word.

O Christian, what advantages are these! What tongue can ever utter them! What imagination can ever conceive of them aright! Know however, that, as unspeakable as they are, they are all your rightful portion, your everlasting inheritance!

APPLICATION.

Twice is the expression used, “this day;” “this day you have avowed;” and “this day God has avowed, etc.” Permit me then to ask: Have you ever known such a day as this, a day wherein you have solemnly surrendered yourselves to God as his redeemed people, with a full determination to serve him with your whole hearts; and a day wherein he has “manifested himself to you as he does not unto the world,” and “sealed you with the Holy Spirit of promise, as the pledge of your inheritance?”

To those who have known such a day,

perhaps you were brought to it through many and severe afflictions, Zechariah 13:9; Ezekiel 20:37; but have you ever regretted for a moment the means by which such a blessed end has been accomplished? We say then: Let not the remembrance of that day escape from your minds. You cannot but recollect:

what a solemn transaction it was between God and your own souls,

what shame you felt that ever you had alienated yourselves from him,

what gratitude to him for his gracious acceptance of you,

what a determination to live entirely to his glory,

and what a persuasion that you could never be base enough to forget the engagements of that day!

But do you not find that the good impressions have been greatly weakened, and that, while the ardor of your will and affections has cooled—little remains except the convictions of your judgment?

Ah! beware of “leaving your first love,” or of resting satisfied with past experiences. Know that it is not on any one day that these transactions must be realized, but every day of your lives. You should be again and again renewing your vows unto the Lord, and be daily occupied in fulfilling them. Look to it then, that:

neither the cares of the world,

nor the deceitfulness of riches,

nor the lusts of the flesh,

nor the fear of man,

nor any other thing,

“choke the good seed within you, or prevent your bringing forth fruit unto perfection.”

To those who wish for such a day,

for we trust that such there are among us, who yet cannot speak of such a day as past, we would earnestly suggest some necessary cautions:

Delay not thus to give yourselves up to God; but be particularly on your guard not to do it in a legal, self-righteous, self-dependent mistakes which are very generally spirit. There are two made, which yet are of most fatal consequence:

The first mistake is that our covenant-engagements relate only to the performance of our duties; whereas they relate primarily to our acceptance of God as our reconciled God in Christ Jesus.

The second mistake is that we are to found all our hopes of covenant advantages on our own obedience; whereas we should regard them, not as purchased by us, but as bestowed on us in the covenant, and as secured to us in Christ Jesus. Happy would it be, if this matter were more clearly understood. It lies at the very root of all our comfort, and of all our stability. Until we see all our holiness secured to us as well as required of us, we shall never rely as we ought on the promises of God, or give to him the glory due unto his name.

See how the covenant is expressed by an inspired prophet; not only does it say, “They shall be my people, and I will be their God,” but, to secure their part of the covenant as well as God’s, God promises “not to turn away from them, or to allow them to turn away from him, Jeremiah 32:38-41.” Thus is “the covenant ordered in all things, and therefore sure;” but it is sure to those alone who lay hold on it with a just apprehension of its nature, and a simple dependence on its provisions.

To those who have no idea of any such day,

may probably be found among us. There are some who seem to take credit to themselves for never having made any profession of religion at all. But can they suppose that this is any excuse for their irreligion, or that it invalidates their obligation to serve the Lord? See the solemn injunction in the text, verse 16; can they make that void? See what is the prophet’s description of things under the gospel dispensation, Jeremiah 1:4-5; there not only are the Lord’s people represented as encouraging one another to covenant thus with God, but the state of their minds is accurately delineated, and the whole mode of their proceeding described.

Be it known then that this is the duty of every one among us. If we would have God for our portion in eternity, we must accept him now; and, if we would be his people in a better world, we must give ourselves up to him now. To make excuses is vain. This duty is paramount to every other; and therefore we call upon all of you this day to “avow God for your God,” that he, in the day of judgment, may acknowledge you as his redeemed people.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Deuteronomy 26:3-9

“Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name. “You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare this day to the LORD my God that I have entered the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’ “Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God. “You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, ‘My father was a perishing Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation. ‘And the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. ‘Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders; and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

The ceremonial law is considered in general as a system of burdensome rites, that had in themselves no intrinsic value, and were useful only as prefiguring the mysteries of the Gospel. But though this view of it is in a measure correct—yet we may disparage that law too much; because there was in many of its ordinances a proper tendency to generate divine affections.

In the law before us, certain professions were required to be made at the same time that the first-fruits were presented; and the words that were put into the mouths of the offerers, reminded them of the obligations which they owed to God, and, consequently, were suited to excite, as well as to express, their gratitude to God. As far as respected the deliverance of that people from Egypt, there is no further occasion for the law; and therefore it is superseded with the rest of the Jewish ritual; but as an intimation of the high value which God sets on grateful recollections, it is worthy of our highest regard.

We shall take occasion from it,

I. To point out our duty in reference to the mercies we have received.

We surely ought not to receive them like the brute beasts which have no understanding; it is our duty to act as intelligent creatures; and to make the mercies of our God an occasion of augmented benefit to our souls. For this purpose we ought:

1. To review our mercies frequently.

Even national mercies ought not to be overlooked by us. It was to them in a peculiar manner that the ordinance before us had respect. The Jews were required not only to look back to the deliverance of their nation from Egypt, but to trace back their origin to Jacob their father, whose mother was a Syrian, who himself married two Syrian women, and himself lived in Syria for twenty years; whose children also, with the exception of Benjamin, were all born in Syria, and were the heads and progenitors of all the Jewish tribes. Jacob on many occasions was near perishing; when he fled from the face of Esau, when he was followed by Laban his father-in-law, and when he was met again by Esau at the head of four hundred men, he was in danger of being destroyed; in which case his children would either never have existed, or would all have been destroyed with him. But God had preserved him from every danger, and brought his posterity to Canaan agreeably to his promise; and they in grateful remembrance of this were to profess it openly from year to year, “A Syrian ready to perish was our father.”

Perhaps it rarely occurs to our minds that we have quite as much reason for gratitude on a national account as even the Jews themselves; but, if we call to mind the state of our forefathers, who were as ignorant of God as the most savage Indians, and remember, that we ourselves would have been bowing down to stocks and stones just like them, if the light of the Gospel had not been sent to dispel our darkness, we shall see that we may well adopt the language of our text and say, “A Syrian ready to perish was our father.”

But we should be careful also to review our personal mercies. Let us look back to the weakness of infancy, the thoughtlessness of childhood, the folly of youth, and see now marvelously God has preserved us to the present hour—while millions have been cut off by a premature death, or left to protract a miserable existence in pain, or infamy, or poverty. The means by which we have been rescued from danger, and even the minutest occurrences that have contributed to our deliverance, are worthy of our most attentive survey, and must be distinctly viewed, if ever we would “understand aright the loving-kindness of the Lord.”

We must not however dwell solely, or even chiefly, on temporal mercies—but must raise our thoughts to those which are spiritual. What matter for reflection will these afford! If we consider:

the former blindness and ignorance of our minds,

the hardness and depravity of our hearts,

the indifference which we manifested towards the concerns of eternity,

and the awful danger in which we stood

—what reason have we to bless our God that he did not take us away in such a state! And, if we can say, as in our text, that “we are come unto the country which the Lord swore unto our fathers to give us,” and are “partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus,” then have we indeed cause for thankfulness, even such cause, as we may well reflect upon to the last hour of our lives; On these then we should “muse until the fire burn, and we are constrained to speak of them with our tongues.”

In the ordinance before us a particular season was appointed for this exercise; and it is well to have seasons fixed upon in our own minds for a more solemn commemoration of the mercies received by us. If the commencement of the new year, for instance, or our birthday, were regularly dedicated to this service, it could not be better spent. But, if our minds are duly impressed with a sense of God’s goodness to us, we shall not be satisfied with allotting one particular period to the contemplation of it, but shall be glad to think and speak of it every day we live.

2. To requite our mercies gratefully.

The Israelites were appointed to offer the first-fruits of the earth to God, in token that they acknowledged him as the Proprietor and Giver of all that they possessed. Now it is not necessary that we should present the same specific offerings as they; but we must dedicate to God the first-fruits of our time, and the first-fruits of our property. We should fear the Lord in our youth, and not think it sufficient to give him the gleanings and the dregs of life; and we should “honor him with our substance, and with the first-fruits of all our increase;” “giving liberally, if we have much, and, if we have but little, doing our diligence gladly to give of that little.”

But chiefly should we consecrate ourselves to God; for we ourselves are, as the Apostle calls us, “a kind of first-fruits of God’s creatures, James 1:18.” Our bodies and our souls, together with all their faculties and powers, are God’s, “We are not our own; we are bought with a price; and to honor him is our bounden duty.” This is the very intent of God’s mercies to us; nor do we ever requite them as we ought, until we “present ourselves to God as living sacrifices,” and “glorify him with our bodies and our spirits which are his.”

This surrender of ourselves to him should be most solemn and devout. The image in our text admirably illustrates it. The priest took the basket that contained the first-fruits, and “set it down before the altar of the Lord his God.” Thus should we go into the very presence of our God, and dedicate ourselves to him, as his redeemed people. Rather, if we may so speak, we should put ourselves into the hands of our great High-Priest, that he may “present us holy and unblamable, and unreprovable in his sight.”

Such is obviously our duty. We proceed now,

II. To recommend it to your attention.

Persons in general are ready to defer the performance of this duty under an idea that it does not pertain to them, at least not at present, and that an attention to it would deprive them of much happiness; but we must press upon your consciences the observance of it, for it is,

1. Dedication to God is a universal duty.

Who is there that has not received innumerable mercies for which he has reason to be thankful? Truly marvelous as are the displays of God’s goodness recorded in the Scriptures, there is no man who might not find as wonderful records of it in his own life, if he could trace all the dispensations of Providence towards him, as clearly and minutely as they are marked in the inspired volume towards God’s people of old.

But there is one point wherein all mankind are upon a level; we may all look back to the state of Adam after he had fallen, and had reduced himself and all his posterity to eternal ruin. How awful our condition then! Truly we should have been forever like the fallen angels, destitute of all help or hope, if God had not marvelously interposed to rescue us from death and Hell by the sacrifice of his only dear Son! With what emphasis then may every one of us say, “A Syrian ready to perish was our father!” Here all the wonders of redeeming love unfold themselves to our view; and he who has no heart to adore God for them, has no hope of any interest in God’s saving mercies.

2. Dedication to God is a reasonable duty.

If we have conferred favors on any person for years together, do we not expect our kindness to be acknowledged and requited as opportunities shall occur? Do we not look with abhorrence upon a man that is insensible to all the obligations that can be heaped upon him? But what are the kindnesses which we can show to a fellow-creature in comparison with those which we have received from God? Shall we then expect a tribute of gratitude from him, and think ourselves at liberty to withhold gratitude from our Heavenly Benefactor? Let the world ridicule devotion, if they will, and call love to God enthusiasm; but we will maintain that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and that an entire surrender of ourselves to him is “a reasonable service.”

Do we inquire, whence it is that ungodly men regard the sublimer exercises of religion as unnecessary and absurd? We answer, They have never considered what obligations they owe to God. Only let them once become acquainted with “the height and depth and length and breadth of the love of Christ,” and they will see, that reason, no less than revelation, demands of us this tribute; and that every enlightened mind must of necessity accord with that of the Psalmist, “What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits he has done unto me!” “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name!”

3. Dedication to God is a delightful duty.

In the passage before us it is associated with joy, verse 11; and indeed, what is such a service but a foretaste of Heaven itself? Did anyone ever engage in it, and not find his soul elevated by it to a joy which nothing else could afford? Let anyone ruminate on earthly things, and his meditations will only augment his cares, or at best inspire him with a very transient joy. Let him dwell upon his own corruptions, and, though they are a proper subject of occasional meditation, they will only weigh down his spirits, and perhaps lead him to desponding fears.

But let the goodness of God, and the wonders of redeeming love, be contemplated by him—and he will soon have his mind raised above earthly things, and fired with a holy ambition to honor and to resemble God. See how the Psalmist expresses his thoughts on such occasions Psalm 145:1-7; what glorious language! how sublime must have been the feelings of his soul, when uttering it before God! Know then that this is the state to which we would invite you, and that the daily experience of it is the best preparative for the joys above!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Deuteronomy 24:19-22

“When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.”

It is surprising to see to what minute things Jehovah condescends in his legislation to the Jews. In no other community under Heaven were such things accounted worthy of distinct and authoritative enactments. People must not yoke together in a plough an ox and a donkey. They must not seethe a goat in its mother’s milk. In taking a bird’s nest, they must not take the mother with her young.

But “God, their great Lawgiver, is love;” and all his laws breathed love, not to men only, but to the whole creation; and by them he has shown, that he desired all his people to live under the influence of this divine principle; and, in the smallest matters no less than in the greatest, to bring it into exercise.

Hence he appointed, that, when they gathered in the fruits of the earth, they should guard against selfishness, and manifest a spirit of love towards their more indigent and afflicted brethren.

In the very words which I have just read, the threefold repetition of them shows what tenderness there is in the bosom of Almighty God towards the poor and afflicted, and how desirous he is that all his people should resemble him; and for this end he commands, that, in the season of their own prosperity, they should be especially mindful of “the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.” The manner in which he enforces this command respecting gleaning, will lead me to consider,

I. The privilege of gleaning, as accorded to the Jews.

The Jews had been brought out from Egypt from the sorest bondage.

By mighty signs and wonders had God brought them out; and had throughout all their generations caused them to enjoy blessings for which they had not labored, and to reap a harvest which they had never sown. For the space of forty years in the wilderness they had no occasion for agricultural labors; but from day to day did they glean around their tents the food which the Great Proprietor of all caused to be scattered for their use. And when they came into the promised land, “they found great and goodly cities which they had never built, and houses filled with all manner of good things which they had never filled, and wells which they had never dug, Deuteronomy 6:10-11.” Like gleaners, they had only to enter on the field, and to appropriate everything which they found to their own use.

From this consideration they were enjoined to give somewhat of a like advantage to their poorer brethren.

“Freely they had received; and freely they were to give.” They were to bear in mind the misery from which their forefathers had been delivered; and from a sense of gratitude to their Heavenly Benefactor, they were to show love to their brethren, and liberality to the poor. They were not to be exact even in the reaping of their crops, but to leave the corners of their fields standing, Leviticus 19:9, for the benefit of “the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow;” and, after having gathered in their grain, or their grapes, or olives, they were not to be going over their ground or their trees again, but to leave the remaining produce for those whose necessities called for such aid; yes, and to rejoice in seeing the needs of others supplied, though at their expense. And surely this was reasonable in the highest degree, since the whole land itself had been originally the gift of God, as was also the produce of it in every successive year. What could their own labors effect without the fruitful showers and the genial warmth of the sun? On God they depended, notwithstanding their own efforts; and God gave them an assurance, that on a cheerful and liberal discharge of their duty towards their brethren, they should receive his blessing on their own labors.

But let me proceed to mark,

II. The far higher grounds of this privilege as existing among Christians.

True, the Jewish law does not extend to us; nor does the law of this land accord in this respect with the Jewish law. The matter has been tried, and authoritatively decided. But, so general is the sense of propriety which exists in this kingdom, that the privilege of gleaning is conceded to the poor, as much as if it were a right established by law; and I suppose that for every thousand pounds that are paid in rent to the proprietor of the soil, not less than one hundred pounds, and perhaps two hundred, are gratuitously left to be gathered by the poor in the way of gleaning. And this is as it should be, for,

Let it be recollected from what misery we have been redeemed.

Not an Egyptian bondage merely was ours, but a bondage to sin and Satan, death and Hell. And what has the Great Proprietor of Heaven and earth done for us? He has, by the blood of his only dear Son, brought us out from this bondage; and in the field of his Gospel has strewed a rich profusion of food, of which all of us may eat, and live forever! Take the inspired volume—there is the field, into which all may enter and gather for themselves. The promises there scattered, and standing, as it were, in every corner, Leviticus 19:9, of the Bible, are sufficient for the whole world. All that is required is that we go in and glean for ourselves.

The manna in the wilderness nourished those only who gathered it for their daily use; and, if the poor will avail themselves of the bounty scattered in our fields, they must go out and gather it. Were all the harvest left upon the field, it would benefit none, unless it were reaped and appropriated to our use. Just so, all the promises of salvation will have been given to us in vain, if we do not exert ourselves, from day to day, to appropriate them to ourselves, for our own personal benefit. But, if we will “labor thus for the meat that endures unto eternal life, the Son of Man will give it to us” according to the utmost extent of our necessities. Then shall we gather all the blessings, both of grace and glory; for no one of which have we any other claim, than as gratuitous endowments, bestowed by the Lord of the harvest on his necessitous and dependent people!

And can we have any stronger argument than this for liberality to the poor?

Methinks, “the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow,” should be made to share our temporal blessings, when we are so richly and gratuitously nourished with those which are spiritual and eternal. We are taught to “love one another, as Christ has loved us, Ephesians 5:2.” And when Paul was urging the Corinthian Church to liberality, he could find no stronger argument than this, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich—yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich! 2 Corinthians 8:9.” Say, brethren, whether this consideration is not amply sufficient to animate us to the most enlarged liberality for his sake? Yes, truly; instead of grudging to others the remnants of our harvest, we should be ready to say with Zaccheus, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, Luke 19:8.” Indeed, even for our own sakes we might practice this divine lesson; for “if we give to the poor, we lend to the Lord; and whatever we lay out, he will pay us again.” In truth, to “honor the Lord with our substance, and with the first-fruits of all our increase, is the way, the surest way, to fill our barns with plenty, and to make our presses burst out with new wine, Proverbs 3:9-10.”

But I rather dwell on the other motive only; because the “love of Christ,” if duly felt in our hearts, “will constrain us” to every possible exercise of love to him, and to the poor for his sake Matthew 25:45.

Let me now, then, address you all.

1. As gleaners, avail yourselves of your privilege.

I say again, the whole field is open before you! As God’s servant, I have been commissioned to “scatter handfuls for you,” that you may not labor in vain; yes, I have invited you to “come, even among the sheaves,” and, so far from “reproaching you” for your boldness, have encouraged you, Ruth 2:16, by the strongest assurances of the unbounded liberality of my Divine Master.

Bear in mind, that you are gleaners. You must indeed labor with diligence; but the whole that you gather is a gift; you never raised by your own personal labor one single grain of what you gather; all your labor consists in gathering up what the Great Proprietor, your Lord and Savior, has strewed for you. While you, then, have all the benefit—let him have all the glory!

2. As proprietors, perform the duty that is here enjoined to you.

Cultivate, every one of you, a spirit of liberality. Let “the stranger” share your bounty; and let “the fatherless and widows” be the special objects of your care and tender compassion. If you do not comply readily with this injunction, what pretensions can you have to call yourselves followers of Christ? “If any man sees his brother in need, and shuts up his compassion from him, how does the the love of God dwell in him? 1 John 3:17.” “He who loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” On the other hand, “abound in the riches of liberality;” and “so shall your light break forth as the morning, Isaiah 58:7-8,” and “a recompense be given you at the resurrection of the just, Luke 14:14.”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Deuteronomy 23:5

“However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.”

To those who are ignorant of the way of salvation, we preach Christ crucified; for “there is no other name under Heaven but his, whereby any man can be saved.”

But to those who are well instructed in the fundamental truths of our holy religion, we bring forward rather what relates to the life of godliness; having laid the foundation, we endeavor to build upon it a suitable superstructure.

Now, a realizing sense of God’s care and love, such a sense of his goodness as leads us to live altogether by faith in him—is one of the sublimest attainments that can be made in this world. And to assist you in this, will be my endeavor at this time.

Let us notice, then, from the words before us,

I. God’s love to his ancient people.

This appeared in bringing them forth out of Egypt, and in preserving them throughout their wanderings in the wilderness; and especially, also, in the instance that is here specified, the counteracting of the designs of Balaam, and “the turning of his curse into a blessing unto them.”

See the account given to us by Moses.

To enter fully into this, the whole history of the transaction, the 22nd, 23nd, and 24th chapters of the Book of Numbers should be attentively perused. Instigated by a desire to obtain “the wages of unrighteousness,” yet conscious that he was under a restraint from the Most High God, Balaam madly pursued his object, even after he was rebuked for his iniquity by the donkey on which he rode, and which, was enabled to utter the reproof in language used by man, 2 Peter 2:15-16. Balaam constantly confesses his inability to go beyond what Jehovah should see fit to permit; yet as constantly sought to evade or change the divine counsels, and to execute the project for which he was hired. Every distinct prophecy which he utters, rises in force and grandeur; and when complained of by Balak for pouring forth blessings upon them, instead of denouncing curses against them, he confesses, “I have received commandment to bless; and God has blessed; and I cannot reverse it, Numbers 23:20.”

At last, finding how vain it was to seek by enchantments to alter the divine purpose, Balaam forbore to offer any more of his sacrifices. and yielded to the impulse within him to foretell the certain successes of those whom he had sought to destroy, Numbers 24:1-9. And, having thus provoked the king of Moab to dismiss him without the promised rewards, Numbers 24:10-14, he resumed his prophetic strains, and declared, not only that this people should triumph over Moab, but that from them should One arise, who should establish a universal empire, and have dominion over the whole world! Numbers 24:15-19.

All this, Joshua brought to the remembrance of Israel, long after they had been established in the land of Canaan; saying, “When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand, Joshua 24:9-10.”

Now all this was the fruit of God’s unchanging love.

God had chosen them to himself in Abraham, and had ordained that they should be to him a peculiar people above all others upon the face of the whole earth. In this choice of them God had been influenced, not by any foreseen worthiness in them; for he knew, from the beginning, what a stiff-necked people they would prove; but solely by his own sovereign will and pleasure, “He loved them because he would love them! Deuteronomy 7:6-9.” To them, also, had he promised the land of Canaan; and therefore, when the time was come for their possession of it, no enemy could stand before them, nor could any conspiracies which could be formed prevail against them. Hence, in despite of all the efforts which Balaam made to curse them—he was constrained to “bless them still.”

From the whole of God’s kindness to them, we may be led to contemplate,

II. God’s love to his elect people at this day.

His people are now redeemed, even as they were of old, only from infinitely sorer bondage, a bondage to sin and Satan, to death and Hell. They are brought also through a dreary wilderness, towards the heavenly Canaan. They have enemies also to contend with. True it is, they have not to dispossess any of their land; nor do they, by invading the property of others, provoke hostility; but they have enemies notwithstanding, yes, and enemies who are bent upon their destruction; but from all of them God will surely deliver his redeemed people.

He will deliver them both from men and devils.

From the beginning of the world have God’s chosen people been opposed and persecuted, even from the time of Abel to the present hour. It was the superior piety of Abel that called forth the resentment of the envious Cain, and stimulated him to imbrue his hands in his brother’s blood, 1 John 3:12. And our Lord puts the question to his malignant enemies, “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?” It might be thought, indeed, that it would be impossible for anyone to hate and persecute the holy Jesus, in whose whole life not a single flaw could be found, and who, by his benevolent and unnumbered miracles, must have endeared himself to every one. But the brighter his light was, the more were the children of darkness incensed against him; so that they never ceased, until they had prevailed against him, and “crucified the Lord of Glory.”

All his Apostles, too, were objects of the world’s hatred; and our Lord has told us, that all his followers will have their cross to bear, after the example which he has set for us. And do we not find it so? Is there a faithful servant of the Lord, especially if he fills any important station, and is active in honoring his Divine Master. Is there one I say, that is not reviled and persecuted for righteousness sake? True, fires are not now kindled, as once they were, to consume them, because the laws of the land forbid it; but it is as true at this day as ever it was in the apostolic age, that “all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

And has the hostility of Satan at all abated? Does not “that roaring lion go about at this day as much as ever, seeking whom he may devour?” What can the Apostle mean, when he says, “We wrestle not with flesh and blood, (not with flesh and blood alone,) but with principalities and powers, and spiritual wickednesses in high places? Ephesians 6:12.” Or for what end are we still enjoined to “put on the whole armor of God? Ephesians 6:13,” if we have not still many enemies to contend with?

But God will preserve us from them all, and “turn their curses into blessings.” “Whatever will ultimately advance our welfare, he will permit; but whatever would have an injurious effect, he will avert; as it is said, “The wrath of man shall praise You, Psalm 76:10.”

We may not see the precise way in which good shall be brought out of evil; Joseph could form no idea of the benefit which was ultimately to accrue from all his trials; nor could Job from his; but they were constrained to acknowledge, that, however designed for evil, the events, every one of them, issued in good; and thus has God engaged, that “we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose! Romans 8:28.” And that their “light and momentary afflictions shall work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory! 2 Corinthians 4:17.”

To this Almighty God is pledged, by the love that he bears towards us.

God has loved his people with an everlasting love; and therefore with loving-kindness he both draws us to him, Jeremiah 31:3, and secures our welfare. Now, the record in my text is especially intended by God himself to illustrate and confirm this truth. Hear what God says by the Prophet Micah, “O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness of the Lord, Micah 6:5.” God is a righteous and faithful God; and he has engaged, that “no weapon that is formed against his people shall prosper,” and that “none shall prevail against them to pluck them out of his hands.” We may be perfectly assured, therefore, that he will keep them to the end; and that “not one jot or tittle of his Word will ever fail.” “Having loved his own, he will love them to the end! John 13:1.”

I close with a word or two of advice.

1. Be not hasty in your anticipations of evil as the result of your trials.

Jacob, on the loss of his favorite son Joseph, exclaimed, “All these things are against me!” But that was the very event which God had ordained for the preservation of himself and his whole family; yes, and for the completion of all his promises respecting the Messiah, and the salvation of the whole world by him. And perhaps that very trial, of which we are ready to complain, is, according to his eternal purpose, to be the destined means of preserving us from destruction, and of preparing us for glory. Wait, and “see the end of the Lord, James 5:11;” and you will find as much reason to bless God for your severest troubles, as for the most acceptable of all his blessings.

2. Learn in every dispensation to acknowledge your heavenly Father’s love.

There is not, in fact, any single trial that does not proceed from God. “Not a hair of your head can fall” but by his gracious permission! Men, devils, yes the very elements, are only instruments in his hands to fulfill his will! Isaiah 10:5; Psalm 148:8. The Jews, in crucifying the Messiah, executed only “what God’s will and counsel had determined before to be done, Acts 4:28;” and, though “they neither meant nor thought so,” they were his agents to accomplish what was necessary for the redemption of God’s people. Men and devils may have prepared a furnace for you; but it is God who puts you into it, to purify you from your dross, and to “bring you forth as vessels fit for the Master’s use.” True, he will punish those agents; as he did Balaam, who was slain among the enemies of God. But you “he will make perfect through sufferings,” and recompense in proportion to all that you have endured for him.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)